Saturday, 20 December 2014

Hawksworth Restaurant

One thing I find really odd about Vancouver is that, despite its wealthy population and its fame for having a huge variety of yummy food, it lacks a good amount of fine dining options. For one, Vancouver has zero Michelin starred restaurant. I wonder why ?

Hawksworth is considered as one of Vancouver's fine dining restaurants. It's located on the lobby floor in Hotel Georgia. I was there for dinner a couple times and once had its tasting menu, I don't remember any of them being too impressive. But then again, I become a tougher judge when I pay a higher price. The food is good, of course. But I've had better paying the same price. The service is professional and polite to its standard. I do like the interior ! Especially now that it's holiday season, the ceiling center piece is decorated with Christmas decors, super nice.

Melissa and I went there for lunch in the name of celebration, again. We seem to take every progress seriously and celebrate them well, haha. But because it was for lunch and we still have meetings to follow, we wanted to pick something smaller, quicker, and lighter to eat. Hence, for appetizer, we got warm breads to start, followed by a plate of very well flavored scallops. As for the main courses, we ordered their special - some curried tuna rice, and the Warm Arctic Salad. They were all really good and reasonably priced consider it's Hawksworth. You gotta pay for the location, the environment, and the dining quality you get as a whole.

That Scallop Dish, haha

That Curry Tuna dish

Warm Arctic Salad

I forgot to mention, I was also there once for it's Vancouver Dine Out event. It was Barcelona themed and food was served on a shared table. It was a very unique experience where you dined side by side with strangers, but it was also like a big festive family dinner. And I remember the courses were very delicious and elegantly plated.

To be honest though, I don't think Hawkswoth is a place I'd crave returning to all the time. This is not just because of the premium price, but also because none of their dishes really linger with me. So if you are expecting something amazing, I wouldn't suggest you to go there. But it is, of course, a good once-in-a-while option.

6 comments:

The only reason that Vancouver does not have any Michelin-starred restaurants is because Michelin does not review Canadian restaurants. Vancouver does indeed have an array of excellent restaurants and I'm sure there would be a few contenders for Michelin stars if the stars were extended to include Canada!

I'm sorry but I haven't had the luxury of trying out the different fine dining restaurants in Vancouver yet. And I am a Japanese food enthusiast so pretty much the closest I've come to fine dining is Miku, Minami and Zest so far. Out of the three, I'd have to say Miku is my favorite, but then Minami is starting to win me over too ...

Once I have been to best San Francisco restaurants for common gatherings and this place looks like that beautiful place. I am again planning a trip to San Francisco and will definitely visit those restaurants again.